Equipment of all sorts, such as energy equipment and production equipment, has increased, and these various types of equipment are equipped with advanced computer processing capabilities, making it important that this equipment be used collaboratively.
For example, in electric power distribution systems (the power grids of the electric power companies, the in-plant power distribution systems of manufacturing plants, and the independently operated power distribution systems that provide power to office buildings), end-user voltage rises at night when the load is low, and voltage falls during the daytime when the load is high. As a result of this, trouble may occur when using electrical equipment. In the technology described in PTL 1, the voltage in a power distribution line system is controlled by allowing collaboration among fuel cells, storage batteries, and other such equipment installed at facilities in order to connect new energy resources, such as solar power and wind power, storage batteries, and new power-demanding equipment, such as electric vehicles and large-scale heat pump-based hot water heaters, to electric power grids while stabilizing the power distribution line systems.
In the technology described in PTL 2, an operation indication terminal for controlling specific plant equipment using a plurality of control apparatuses is provided, an identification code of an operation command is sent from the operation indication terminal to an operation control apparatus, each control apparatus receives the identification code and executes a control operation, and the drive apparatus of the plant equipment is driven in accordance with the result of this operation.